Deterioration of an O ring due to radiation heating in a vacuum heating apparatus is prevented to allow heat treatment of a substrate with good annealing properties. The vacuum heating apparatus 1 includes a vacuum chamber 2 constituted by flanges 11 and 12 having an opening portion 9 and joined together, a turbo molecular pump 17 for exhausting gas from the vacuum chamber 2, and a heater base 3 for heating a substrate 5 placed in the vacuum chamber 2. Joint surfaces of the flanges 11 and 12 are sealed by an O ring 10. Further, bonding steps 13 are formed between the heater base 3 and the O ring 10 on the joint surfaces of the flanges 11 and 12, thereby preventing thermo-radiation from the heater base 3 from reaching the O ring 10 through the joint surfaces of the flanges 11 and 12.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A vacuum heating apparatus comprising: a vacuum chamber constituted by first and second members joined together with an opening at the joint; exhaust means for exhausting gas from said vacuum chamber; and heating means placed in the opening for heating a substrate placed in said vacuum chamber, wherein joint surfaces of said first and second members are sealed by an O ring, wherein steps are provided on the joint surfaces of said first and second members to form bonding steps between said heating means and said O ring, and wherein the bonding steps prevent thermo-radiation from said opening from directly reaching said O ring.
2. The vacuum heating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said joint surfaces at the inside of said O ring have greater surface roughness than portions other than said joint surfaces.
3. The vacuum heating apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the joint surfaces at the inside of said O ring have emissivity of 0.3 or more.
4. The vacuum heating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a shield plate is provided at the inner peripheral side of said members facing said heating means.
5. The vacuum heating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said heating means is electron collision heating type heating means in which a thermo-electron emitted from a filament by an acceleration voltage applied between said filament and said vacuum chamber is caused to collide with a heater to generate heat.
6. A vacuum heating apparatus comprising: a vacuum chamber constituted by first and second members joined together with an opening at the joint; exhaust means for exhausting gas from said vacuum chamber; and heating means placed in the opening for heating a substrate placed in said vacuum chamber, wherein joint surfaces of said first and second members are sealed by an O ring, and said joint surfaces are configured to prevent thermo-radiation from said heating means from reaching said O ring through said joint surfaces.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
June 12, 2009
March 6, 2012
Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.